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Surviving in the ‘Dual System’: How M-PESA is fostering urban-to-rural remittances in a Kenyan Slum

Derek Newberry — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:18:55 -0500

Date of talk or publication:
May 2008

Speaker Name / Title:
Olga Morawczynski

Description:
The ‘dual system' thesis has been used to describe the continuing commitment of urban migrants to the village in various African countries. According to literature, urban workers maintain strong ties with the rural area, even after spending a substantial amount of time in the city. One way in which these ties are maintained is through urban-to-rural remittances. In March of 2007, an m-banking application called M-PESA was introduced into the Kenyan market.

Exploring Trust in M-Banking Transactions: The Case of M-PESA in Kenya

Derek Newberry — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:15:25 -0500

Date of talk or publication:
May 2008

Speaker Name / Title:
Olga Morawczynski and Gianluca Miscione

Description:
This paper examines how trust can emerge and be sustained in the context of mobile transactions. M-PESA, a mobile banking system in Kenya, is the focus of this paper. Data is used from an ethnographic study that was deployed in Kibera-one of Africa's largest informal settlements. This paper presents research in progress and discusses two main findings. Firstly, interpersonal trust relations between the customers and agents are weak.

Los Siguientes 4 Mil Millones: Tamaño del Mercado y Estrategia de Negocios en la Base de la Pirámide

Francisco Noguera — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:23:05 -0500

Date of talk or publication:
May 2008

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:

The Network for Inclusive Markets, formed by WRI, Avina and Fundes, is glad to announce the release of "Los Siguientes 4 Mil Millones", the Spanish language version of WRI's milestone report "The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Busines Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid".

We hope that this new report will serve as a tool for the Latin American business community to design creative business models to serve and work with the region's 360 million people that live at the BoP.

NextBillion.net Series: Taking Base of the Pyramid Strategies to Scale

Derek Newberry — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:28:09 -0500

Description:
Taking Base of the Pyramid Strategies to Scale is a series of eleven blog postings that debate a radical new approach to scaling BoP business models, which its proponents call a "transformative sector strategy." In the series, Hammond introduces the conceptual framework for this new development model and provides examples of the strategy in action from the Health and ICT sectors. Six BoP experts comment on the strategy in subsequent guest commentaries, followed by a fifth concluding post from Hammond.

Connecting the Next Billion: Summary of a Vietnam WiFi Pilot

Derek Newberry — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:23:08 -0500

Date of talk or publication:
May, 2008

Speaker Name / Title:
Allen Hammond

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:
A PowerPoint presentation by WRI Vice President Allen Hammond summarizes lessons learned from a pilot project to provide WiFi access to three areas of rural Vietnam.

Developing Biofuels in Rural Haiti: The Jatropha Pepinye Today

Al Hammond — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:22:03 -0500

Speaker Name / Title:
Kathleen Robbins, Director of Clean Energy

Organization:
GreenMicrofinance Group

Description:
The paper, by Kathleen Robbins of the GreenMicrofinance Group tells the story of a small Haitian NGO, that is piloting an environmentally sound and economically sustainable approach to biofuels. The key element is a jatropha nursery that is incubating young plants and teaching a group of Haitian farmers how to grow them.

CareShop Ghana: Improving Access to Essential Drugs through Conversion Franchising

Julia Tran — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:59:27 -0500

Date of talk or publication:
March 2008

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:

In Ghana, easily preventable or curable infectious illnesses, such as malaria and diarrheal diseases, are leading causes of death and exacerbate the financial hardships of many families. An inadequate public healthcare infrastructure is unable to cope with the magnitude of Ghana's infectious disease prevalence, leading many patients to seek health advice and treatment from the private sector. Licensed chemical sellers (LCS), authorized by the Ghana Pharmacy Council to dispense over-the-counter drugs, are present across Ghana and are often the first point-of-call for many Ghanaians, yet LCS themselves often do not have access to local suppliers of high quality medicines.

IE Teaching Note: An Overview of the Mobile Phone Banking Industry

Manuel Bueno — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:41:07 -0500

Description:

An Overview of the Mobile Phone Banking Industry" is a 12 page examination of mobile phone banking business models: key drivers, common critiques and future challenges. It was published by Next Billion staff writer Manuel Bueno in February 2008 as an Instituto de Empresa Teaching Note, under the supervision of Professor Juan Luis Martinez.

m3u streaming audio file: An Overview of the Mobile Banking Industry by Manuel Bueno (IE Teaching Note).pdf (190.74 KB)

Biometric Security for Mobile Banking

Derek Newberry — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:20:01 -0500

Date of talk or publication:
March 2008

Speaker Name / Title:
Loretta Michaels

Organization:
World Resources Institute

Description:
This report identifies a confluence of technology trends leading to viable solutions that can enable very widespread access to financial services. It also discusses the obstacles blocking the growth of this market among BoP consumers, such as mobile phone banking security. The report focuses on biometric technology approaches that could help providers overcome this security issue—in particular, a sophisticated, but low-cost, fingerprint sensor.

The Next Four Billion - Executive Summary, Spanish

Abigail Keene-Babcock — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:58:26 -0500

Date of talk or publication:
November 2007

Organization:
World Resources Institute and the International Finance Corporation

Description:

The Next Four Billion - Executive Summary, Spanish translation.

(Los Siguientes Cuatro Billones - Resumen Ejecutivo, en español.)